Accuser’s climbdown could have absolved Duke of York

THE Duke of York accuser’s climbdown over her accusation against a high profile lawyer could have vindicated the Duke, lawyers believe.

However, it came too late to have any bearing on his own sexual abuse case, which he settled with a multimillion-pound, out of court settlement in February.

Virginia Giuffre this week admitted she “may have made a mistake” in accusing Alan Dershowitz of sexually abusing her as a teenager. Eight years of claims and counterclaims between the pair were settled when she agreed to withdraw her defamation suit against the Harvard Law professor.

Legal experts said that although the development cast doubt on Ms Giuffre’s credibility, it would not help salvage Prince Andrew’s reputation.

Mark Stephens, a media lawyer at the London-based firm Howard Kennedy, said it had come too late for the Duke. “I think the problem is that once you’ve handed over a few million, there’s no way back from that,” he said.

“Had anyone chosen to take the same route and provoke a defamation action like Dershowitz did, it would have given them a clear path to vindication.

“Of course, the problem is that no one else did.” He added: “Dershowitz stands as a sole individual who appears to have vindicated his reputation against these allegations. The other men have gone down like bowling pins.”

Ms Giuffre accused the Duke of raping and abusing her three times in 2001, when she was 17.

The Duke, who denied any wrongdoing, was adamant that he wanted to take the civil case to trial and clear his name.

But Buckingham Palace urged him to settle as the lurid claims dominated the news agenda and threatened to overshadow Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

During proceedings, the Duke’s barrister, Andrew Brettler, drew parallels between his case and the Dershowitz case, insisting that Ms Giuffre’s pattern of filing lawsuits against high-profile individuals should “no longer be tolerated”.

Last August, Mr Dershowitz used a 2009 agreement made between Ms Giuffre and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to get abuse claims made against him struck out.

He told The Daily Telegraph last year: “I cannot imagine how the case against the Prince will not be dismissed based on the dismissal of the case against me.”

However, the Duke’s attempt to have his own case dismissed on the basis of the document was rejected by judge Lewis Kaplan in January, shortly before the case was settled.